Advanced FEM

21

Kirchho Plates:
BCs and
Variational Forms

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 1

Advanced FEM

BCs in Kirchhoff Plates (and Thin Shells) Mathematical Difficulties

Rotational freedoms introduce displacement derivatives
(differentiation is always a source for trouble)
Some BCs are difficult to realize experimentally
e.g. simple support
Kirchhoff model permits only two independent conditions
at boundary points, whereas the natural number is three

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 2

Advanced FEM

Conjugate Quantities on Kirchhoff Plate Boundary

deflection and rotations positive as shown
dx
s
(b)

(a)

w
ds
B n

dy

z
A

Qx

(c)
B

Mxy

Qy
Myx

Mxx

Qn

B
Myy

w
= s ,
n

w
= n
s

Boundary
work integral

WB =

Mnn
forces & moments positive as shown

Work pairs
w,

Mns

Qn ,

w
w 
+ Mnn
ds =
Q n w + Mns
s
n

 


AFEM Ch 21 Slide 3

Mnn ,

Mns


Q n w + Mnsn Mnn s ds

Advanced FEM

The Modified Shear

(aka "Kirchhoff Shear Force")

W B | BA =




Mns 
w
dt + Mns w| BA .
Qn
w + Mnn
s
n

Vn = Q n


W B | BA =

B
A

Mns
,
s


w
Vn w + Mnn
dt + Mns w| BA .
n
responsible for "corner forces"

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 4

Advanced FEM

Physical Interpretation of
Modified Shear at Plate Corner
s (arclength)
Rc
_
Mns

At a corner point A-> C <-B:

+
Mns

+

Mns | BA = Rc w = ( Mns
Mns
)w
+

Mns
Rc = Mns

This is a "corner
lifting" force

Simple Support,
No Edge Anchorage

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 5

Advanced FEM

Common Plate Boundary Conditions

Clamped or Fixed Edge (with s along edge)
w
= s = 0
n

w = 0,

Simply Supported Edge (with s along edge)

Mnn = 0

w = 0,

Free Edge (with s along edge)

Vn = 0,

Mnn = 0

Symmetry Line (with s along line)

Vn = 0,

w
= s = 0
n

Point Support
w=0

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 6

Advanced FEM

Examples
Free edge

;;
;;

water

;;;;
;;

Clamped
(fixed) edges

"Point support" for

reinforced concrete slab

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 7

Advanced FEM

Strong Form Tonti Diagram

Prescribed
deflections
& rotations

^s
^
w,

^
w=w
s = ^s
Displacement
BCs

Lateral
load
q

Deflection
w

Kinematic

=Pw
in

Equilibrium

M=D
in

Bending
moments
M

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 8

PT M = q
in

Constitutive

Curvatures

^
Mnn= M
nn
Vn = V^n
Force BCs

Prescribed
moments
& shears

^ , V^
M
nn n

Advanced FEM

Total Potential Energy Principle:

Departure Weak Form

Prescribed
deflections
& rotations

^s
^
w,

^
w=w
s = ^s

Lateral
load
q

Deflection w Master
w
Displacement Rotations
BCs

Kinematic

w = P w
in

Equilibrium

Constitutive

Slave

Curvatures
w

Mw= D w
in

Bending
moments
Mw

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 9

Slave
Force BCs

Prescribed
moments
& shears

^ , V^
M
nn n

Advanced FEM

Total Potential Energy Functional of Kirchhoff Plate

internal +
external

TPE [w] = UTPE [w] WTPE [w]

Internal energy:

UTPE [w] =

1
2

(Mw ) T w =

where

1
2

(w ) T D w d =


1
2

(w PT )D (Pw) d


P = [ 2 / x 2 2 / y 2 2 2 / x y ]T

External work has three components:

WTPE [w] = Wq [w] + W B [w] + WC [w]

Wq [w] =


q w d,

WC =

nc

j=1

W B [w] =

Rcj w j =

nc

V M

transverse load +
boundary forces +
corner forces

( Vn w M nn sw ) d

( M ns
M ns
)w

j=1

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 10

Advanced FEM

Hellinger-Reissner Principle:
Departure Weak Form
Prescribed
deflections
& rotations

^s
^
w,

^
w=w
s = ^s

Lateral
load
q

Deflection w Master
w
Displacement Rotations
BCs

Kinematic

Slave

=Pw
in
w

Curvatures
w

Constitutive

Slave

Equilibrium

Curvatures
M

Mw= D w
in

Bending
moments
M

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 11

Master
Force BCs

Prescribed
moments
& shears

^ , V^
M
nn n

Advanced FEM

Hellinger-Reissner Functional for Kirchhoff Plate

HR [w, M] = UHR [w, M] WHR [w, M]


UHR [w, M] =

(MT w 12 MT D1 M) d =




(MT w U ) d

U = 12 MT D1 M : complementary energy density (per

unit of plate area) in terms of moments

external work term similar to TPE

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 12

Advanced FEM

Fraeijs de Veubeke Curvature-Displacement

Principle: Departure Weak Form
Prescribed
deflections
& rotations

^s
^
w,

^
w=w
s = ^s

Lateral
load
q

Deflection w Master
w
Displacement Rotations
BCs

Kinematic

=Pw
in
w

Constitutive

Slave

Curvatures
w

Master Curvatures

M =D
in
w

Constitutive
M = D

in

Slave
Bending
moments
Mw

Bending
moments
M

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 13

Equilibrium

Slave
Force BCs

Prescribed
moments
& shears

^ , V^
M
nn n

Advanced FEM

Fraeijs de Veubeke Curvature-Displacement

Functional

FdV [w, ] = UFdV [w, ] WFdV [w, ]



FdV [w, ] =

(T Mw 12 T D) d

external work term similar to TPE

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 14

Advanced FEM

Variational Index of Master Fields

Functional

transverse
displacements

TPE

HR

FdV

bending
plate
moments curvatures
0
0

Index mw = 2 on transverse displacements w is a bummer

Main difficulty: classical Ritz requires C 1 interelement
continuity, not easy to achieve with polynomials
Much research since early 1960s has been devoted to
alleviate or eliminate this tough requirement

AFEM Ch 21 Slide 15